circumscribed
"circumscribed" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“circumscribed” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #46,379 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #46,379
- frequency rank, English
- 13
- letters
- 21
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Limited narrowly; restricted.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | circumscribed |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| Letters | 13 |
| Frequency rank | #46,379 |
| Misspellings tracked | 21 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “circumscribed” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for circumscribed is 13 letters long, classified as an adjective. Corpus data places it at rank #46,379 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Limited narrowly; restricted.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 21 likely wrong-spelling variants for circumscribed, with forms such as "ccircumscribed", "cicrumscribed", and "circcumscribed". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct English form is circumscribed, spelled C-I-R-C-U-M-S-C-R-I-B-E-D.
Definition
- 1Limited narrowly; restricted.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccircumscribed,cicrumscribed,circcumscribed,circmuscribed,circumcsribed,circummscribed,circumsccribed,circumscirbed,circumscrbied,circumscribbed,circumscribde,circumscribedd,circumscriebd,circumscrribed,circumsrcibed,circumsscribed,circusmcribed,cirrcumscribed,cirucmscribed,cricumscribed,icrcumscribed
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of circumscribed - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “circumscribed”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-I-R-C-U-M-S-C-R-I-B-E-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.